A Slow, Slurring Sonnet

I get so sad and melancholy when I hear a Leonard Cohen song. Cohen's art is so full of longing and regret that it often evokes a melancholy mood on its own--but that is not the sole reason for my reaction.

Cohen writes songs like the one featured here, Love Itself, and when performing invokes the words as if he were having an intimate conversation with an old friend. I often feel like an eavesdropper when listening to a Cohen song. And it makes me feel sad because Cohen has somehow figured out how to express deep human emotions in an effortless, off-hand manner.

But the casual conversation so effortlessly tossed out for any ear is often just exactly what my soul is struggling so hard to say. My own emotions are so difficult for me to express. How is it that Cohen can so easily expose the human heart? How is that possible? How is it fair? I try so hard and nothing happens. Cohen talks with anybody or nobody over a cup of coffee and the wisdom of the ages is revealed in a slow, slurring sonnet.

Not fair.